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longboard shoes

does anyone else have a problem finding good shoes to skate in? the best grippy shoes ive found are old school waffle sole vans. but they have this really weedy rubber strip round them. i brake with my toe, so they dont last 10 minutes really . what i need are some grippy supportive and beefily padded sneaks. with solid plastic fronts. closest i can find are airwalks, but even they're wearing down fast.... any ideas? my bro perry tapes some of that sparking stuff to his feet too look cool, but thats a bit much for me!!

get some cheap copy skate shoes, they have harder soles and last longer than most skate shoes when foot braking, i use DC's cause i like to ride me bikes in them but the soles are so soft they dont last more than a few months of skating

I use Vans because of the Waffle Sole, but if you want to avoid footbraking, you can do it the hard way (learn to slide really good) or the easy way, and that's by laying the toe with shitloads of shoo-goo.

When you guys say you are using the toe to foot brake. Do you mean you are just dragging the edge or tip of your shoes either along side or behind you?

When I foot brake I use the ball of the foot/shoe and gradually increase the pressure so that most of my sole comes into contact with the surface. Larger surface area, distributes the wear and gives greater friction to slowing down.

Maybe I have understood your technique wrong but if that i sthe case I can well believe that you are wearing through such a small area very qucikly.

I love vans and chuck but they wear out fast and I ride pretty aggressively and for pretty long distances, and need a little more padding, arch support, etc.

i only buy whatever skate shoes are on sale, i usually require a minimum of 40% off, so i always end up with shoes that were really cool a year and a half ago. a lot of sporting goods stores here sell skate shoes (and no skaters go there cause it's not the cool shop or whatever, so the merchandise just sits there) and they're good about having sales and lots of clearance stuff.

also i know lots of people who happily buy the skater type shoe at target, wal-mart, etc., and replace every month or two for 15 or 20 dollars or whatever.

I always wear Vans. Though the quality of shoe is fine, I wear them more out of principle. Vans underwrote the Dogtown and Z Boys movie, and if it weren't for that movie, I wouldn't be skating again. I will support Vans any way I can (and I have a Vans outlet nearby where I get the shoes from $19.99 to $39.99).

I too buy Vans, but only because they fit my big feet without a problem. As far as what lasts longest, I dunno. The fact is, you are basically sanding the soles when you move your feet around on your board. Wearing them out is just gonna happen. I usually ride mine for like 5-6 months before i start wearing through the sole. But I also use mine to walk around campus in, so that adds to the amount of wear and tear on the shoes.

I have the same question as oc1rob. It seems like braking with your toe would be really bad for your ankle, not to mention your shoes.

When I footbrake, I also start with the ball of my foot and gradually put my foot down until it's flat on the ground. I have some Airwalks that have lasted a pretty long time... I'll have to try out the work boot idea if i can find some that have soles that don't have too much of a lip.

I use the toe for foot braking, using the deck underneath the arch of my foot as a brace. I have tried many times to use the ball of my foot, but I lose balance pretty quickly, then the sole will catch, and I go flying off into the distance.

I just do a slide nowadays, and xc4pot said about using the wheel, that is pretty easy when you get the hang of it.

xc: I use a very similar technique, but I footbrake and brake the wheel simultaneously...I start by footbraking with the ball of my back foot, then slide that foot back toward the rear truck until the heel of my shoe rubs the back wheel...I gradually apply more pressure to both the ground and the wheel, and I can stop faster than by footbraking alone.

...As for the shoes, they're Shoe-gooed Etnies. I don't know the model, but they're a solid, simple construction that has held tough for many a longboarding mile. I've heard of others having bad experiences with Etnies, but these have served me well. ..

if i'm just using it as tranportation, i just wear some sneakers i got, nothing special, pretty much skate shoe clones, only...less expensive =p they're just comfortable for longer periods of pushing. if i'm going fast though, i have a pair of black boots...inch thick sole, and fairly hard rubber so they really don't wear down at all, plus they don't catch on the pavement, just skid along.

and i use the ball of my foot to brake, the toe would wear out way too quickly on any pair of shoes really...that and you'd scuf it like mad...